2 duck hunters die, one rescued in Westport

Credit: U.S. Coast Guard

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard rescue hunter in westport after a skiff overturned during a duck hunt. Two other hunters died in the incident.

Two men out duck hunting in Westport this morning in the bitter cold died when their boat capsized, and a third member of their party has been hospitalized in Rhode Island, authorities said.

“At this time, this incident does not appear to be suspicious in nature,” said Gregg Miliote, spokesman for Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter.

Steven James, 53, of Marshfield and Robert Becher, 55, of Cromwell, Conn., died in the accident. The lone survivor is Gregg Angell, 51, of Westport, according to Sutter.

The boat, described as a skiff, tipped over on the Westport River at about 9 a.m., and the Westport harbormaster found two men, who were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, Coast Guard spokeswoman Myeonghi Clegg said. A Coast Guard crew hoisted the third victim up into a helicopter and transported him to Rhode Island hospital, where he is being treated for “hypothermic-like symptoms,” Clegg said.

This is the second duck-hunting incident in recent weeks. Last week in Fairhaven, federal, state and local agencies mounted a land and sea search to find Dana Dourdeville, a Brown University student from Marion, after he didn’t return from a duck hunting trip on New Year’s Eve. While Dourdeville’s kayak was found, he is still missing.